Furfural stabilizer



. as a base for certain synthetic resins.

Patented Aug. 14, 1945 FURFURAL STABILIZER Rock L. Comstock and Howard F. Reeves, .lr., Weeks, La., asslgnors to Bay Chemical Cornpany, Inc., New Orleans, La., a corporation of Louisiana No Drawing. Application May 31, 1940,

Serial No. 338,274

8 Claims. (01. 260-347) invention relates to fstabilization of furi'ural.

l uriural is an organic liquid that normally is clear or colorless. It is usedin modem technology as a solvent or a distributing agent, and also To form resinous plastics furfural readily condenses with various reagents into larger molecular aggre-' gates. But the tendency of furfural to resinify persists to an undesirable degree even without 10 Furfural be application of particular reagents. V comesaltered spontaneously even. in storage to produce'gummy derivatives. .These derivatives are darkin color. They darken the furfural in air. A particular'obiect is to prevent formation of dark, gummy derivatives in furfural.

This invention\accomplishes stabilization of furfural by incorporating certain compounds having the characteristics of weak bases. Particularly useful in thus stabilizing furfural under this invention are certain derivatives of organic amines. This invention comprises, further a practical means of stabilizing furfural by adding compounds that react' to produce required stabilizing agent in the furfural.

In preferred practice of this invention, furfuramid is added to furfural to stabilize the furfural against darkening or production of gummy which they are formed and even when present in i6 derivatives during storage, Furfuramjd is 1 considerable dilution impart a brownish discoloration to the otherwise colorless furfural.

It is diillcult to prevent this chemical alteration of furfural to dark gummy products because ble in furfural. Amounts of furfuramld varying from 0.1 to 0.01% have proved to be effective to inhibit undesirable chemical deterioration of furfural. Furfuramid may be added as such, but

the nature of this change is not known with cereffective stabilization results on forming furfurtainty. The change has been supposed to "bedue to oxidation. It is known that furfural is anorganlc compound of a heterocyclic system and that its structure is that of an aromatic-like,

amid in situ by addition of ammonia to furfural. Whatever the mechanism, ammonia. thus added becomes an adequate inhibitor against deterioration. iI'he amount of ammonia may vary flve-membered ring containing an oxygen atom from 01 t 01% of the furfur l in the ring. The carbon atoms attached to the oxygen are attached to other carbon atoms by double bonds; that is, iurfural in structure is an unsaturated ring. Furiural "contains the aidehyde group, in which also is an unsaturated bond. The accepted chemical structure of furfural is:

. H i It is evident that furfural is susceptible to oxidation because unsaturated bonds tend to oxidize. In the past, agents for addition to furiural have been primarily to oifset the tendency to oxida- Certain other compounds of thenature of derivatives of organic amines, preferably soluble in furf-ural, likewise are effective stabilizers against furfural deterioration. For example diphenylamine or benzidine are suitable inhibitors. All of these amines are non-phenolic in character. Inv addition, sodium hydrosulflte is an ef- ,fective stabilizing agent i'or iuri'ural. These protecting agents may be applied in;concentrat1on of t about 0.01 to 0.1% of the furfural.

The examples now to be presented describe the eflicacy of these particular protecting agents.

The agents were addedto furfural as described in the examples, and samples of the mixture were tion. Thus the phenolic compounds well known placed in closed test tubes and then inspected However, experience underlying this invention hulls.

indicates that darkening of iurfural during storage is not primarily an oxidation phenomenon. At least the critical condition or means of control is not primarily a matter of avoiding oxidaafter standing for nine months. In the tests one sample of furfural is designated as Q0 which was obtained from the Quaker Oats Company and presumably carefully prepared from oat Other samples of furfural were prepared from: rice straw and other samples prepared from bagasse. The samples marked "Q0 technical, Q0 purified, Bagasse-flrst distillation, and Bagassesecond distillation were untreated tion by means that would respond to accelerated after receipt for tests. All other samples were oxidation tests.

An object of this invention is to stabilize furmm" against alteration during storage. A fur-' ther purpose is to maintain the clarity or colorless nature of iurfural even in the presence of made up from furfural distilled under vacuum of 29 inches, then agitated with concentrated alkali'ne salt solution to neutralize acids and washed with water before adding the stabilizing agents. These agents were added as solids except that a modicum of fu'rfuramid to substantially inhibit deterioration.

' 3. A process of stabilizing furfural comprising incorporating therein a modicum oi orgmie amide.

4.,A process of. stabilizing furtuml comprilklg Color Consistency In diilused light:

0-teohniaii grade Li uid. 8"?8 iilfiii li 713 I l1 uram qu 0-pios.l bencidine.. o Do. QO- pIus .1 a diphenylamine Iodine color Do. In complete darkness: I

' O-technical Badly carbonized Liquid.

O-- fled .do Nearly solid. Furlural tom rice straw:

Plus .17 iulfuramid Clear dark red. "'lhln liquid. Plus .02 iurlurarnid Clear, lighter amber. Do. Plus .1 di henylamine. Blackish iodine. Do. Plus .0 phenylamlne Greenish black. Do. Plus .01 diphenylamine do. Do. Furiural from bagasse:

lst distillation-untreated Iodine color Slightly carbonized 2nd distillation-untreated. .do Somewhat thinner. Plus .17 iurluramld. Clear dark red Thin liquid. Plus .0 o luriuramid. Dark amber Do. Plus .0i% luriuramid. Lighter amber Do. Plus .1% sodium hydrosulflte Light amber 'lhin liquid with drops of water present. Plus 02% sodium hydrosulfite Reddish amber Thin liquid, water almost absent. Plus .0i%'sodium hydrosulfite Dark red amber Thin liquid, practically no water visible. Plus .17 di henylamlne Green black Thin liquid. Plus .02 phenylamme ..do Do. Plus .017: diphenylamine "do"... Do.

Protection is indicated by absence of a deposit in the liquid or of any dark colored compound in sufllcient quantity or in condition to cloud the i'urfural. It is evident that iufuramid consistently excels in protection of furfural.

While in accordance with the patent statutes we have set forth the principles 01 this invention and have illustrated a preferred practice thereof by specific example, it will now be apparent to those skilled in the art that modifications may be made within the scope of the appended claims.

What we claim is: I

1. A process of stabilizing normally unstable furtural comprising adding to the furfural a modicum or organic amide to substantially inhibit deterioration.

2. A process of stabilizing normally unstable Iuriural comprising incorporating in the furfural incorporating therein a modicum of organic amide soluble in the furi'ural. x

5. A proces of stabilizing furi'ural comprlsing 35 incorporating therein approximately 0.01% to 0.1% 01' rurfuramid.

6. A stabilized furfural comprising normally unstable iuriural containing a modicum of furfuramid to substantially inhibitthe deterioration 40 of the i'urfural.

(I furiural comprising adding to the turi'ural a modicum of furtu'ramid to substantially inhibit deterioration.

ROCK L. COMSTOCK. HOWARD F. REEVES, JR. 

